Colonels have fourth straight district title all sewn up

Between its 35-6 win Friday night at Marshall County and Muhlenberg County's 57-0 loss at Daviess County, Henderson County has its fourth straight district championship sewn up no matter the outcome of this week's game with Muhlenberg County.

The Mustangs are 1-7 overall and 0-2 in the district.

In the unlikely event that 1-7 Muhlenberg would upset them, the Colonels would still win the district because they beat both Daviess and Marshall, one of which would finish 2-1 after their game this week in Owensboro.

Henderson County's first-round playoff opponent will be determined after this week's games in the Fifth District as Ballard (2-0) visits Oldham County (1-1) and Fern Creek (0-2) hosts Eastern (1-1). Fern Creek, which is 1-7 overall, nearly upset Ballard in a 13-12 loss on Friday. It seems likely that Fern Creek will be the team coming to Colonel Stadium on Nov. 3 to start the postseason.

Finishing the regular season unbeaten on the road, the Colonels may not have to travel again until a regional final trip to Louisville. After this week's district finale with Muhlenberg County, Henderson County closes the regular season with Owensboro on Oct. 26.

With his 106-yard performance on Friday, Keileen Chappell became the 12th 2,000-yard rusher in Henderson County history. He is the third 2,000-yard rusher in coach Clay Clevenger's six seasons at Henderson County, joining Almondo Theus and Javaris Lewis. With 952 yards on the season, Chappell is on the verge of reaching the 1,000-yard mark for the second year in a row.

Brock Herndon's two field goals in the final 5:30 of Friday's game were the first field goals made against Henderson County this season. Opponents were 0-for-3 in field goal attempts until Herndon hit a 32-yarder with 5:30 to go. He also connected on a 30-yard field goal with 0:45 remaining.

Henderson County kicker Nick Gregory missed a field-goal attempt for the first time this season when his 42-yard kick late in the second quarter was wide to the right. Gregory, who has been bothered by a sore hip, did make all five of his PAT attempts but shared the kickoff duties with James Bickers.

"It's a luxury to have two kickers like that," Clevenger said. "Most high schools would love to have either one of them."

Bickers handled some of the first-half kickoffs to give Gregory a bit of a break, had a career-long 64-yard punt in the first quarter, pinned Marshall County at its own 2 with a 46-yard punt just before halftime, ran for a first-down on a punt fake early in the second quarter and had a touchdown-saving tackle on a punt return in the fourth quarter. Not a bad night's work for the senior whose primary athletic endeavor is as a member of the Colonel soccer team. Bickers has seen his season punting average climb to 40.1 yards.